The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 is a wide‑ranging statute that (1) creates environmental delivery plans (EDPs) — Natural England‑led plans covering specified areas and types of development, funded by a new ‘nature restoration levy’ charged to developers — and (2) overhauls multiple planning and infrastructure regimes across energy, transport, housing and compulsory purchase law.
The Act centralises a new, earmarked funding route for habitat and species conservation, gives Natural England powers to implement, monitor and (with Secretary of State oversight) amend or revoke EDPs, and sets out detailed rules for how the levy is calculated, collected, enforced and spent. At the same time it tightens the regime for nationally significant infrastructure projects (removing several statutory pre‑application consultation duties and adding a mechanism for the Secretary of State to disapply development‑consent requirements), creates statutory spatial development strategies and strategic planning boards, expands development‑corporation powers (including infrastructure delivery), and introduces targeted reforms to compulsory purchase, electricity connection processes and electric‑vehicle charging works.
At a Glance
What It Does
The Act requires Natural England to prepare environmental delivery plans (EDPs) that identify environmental features, set conservation measures and publish charging schedules that determine a ‘nature restoration levy’ payable by developers. It amends the Planning Act 2008 and related statutes to alter pre‑application duties, acceptance criteria for development consent orders, and gives the Secretary of State new powers to disapply the DCO regime. The Act also creates statutory spatial development strategies and grants development corporations broader infrastructure powers.
Who It Affects
Developers and infrastructure promoters in England (including nationally significant infrastructure project applicants), Natural England (as administrator of EDPs), local planning authorities and strategic planning authorities, electricity network operators and the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, and landowners facing compulsory acquisition by public authorities.
Why It Matters
For developers the Act creates a predictable but potentially compulsory route to buy regulatory certainty (through levy payments and treated licences) in return for funding habitat measures. For regulators and conservation bodies it centralises mitigation funding and delivery with Natural England. For planners and investors it reshapes consenting timelines, consultation duties and who can authorise infrastructure — changing risk and compliance profiles across major projects.
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What This Bill Actually Does
Part 3 — the environmental delivery plan (EDP) framework — is the Act’s policy engine. Natural England prepares a time‑limited EDP (up to ten years) applying to a specified development area, types and maximum quantum of development.
Each EDP identifies one or more environmental features likely to be harmed, sets out conservation measures Natural England will take, and publishes charging schedules that set rates or criteria for the nature restoration levy. Developers may request to pay the levy; if Natural England accepts a request the developer becomes committed to pay and, in many cases, statutory environmental obligations are treated as discharged or modified for that development (for example certain Habitats Regulations assessments and protected‑species licence requirements).
EDPs must be consulted on (28 working‑day default), reported on at midpoint and end, and can be amended, revoked or trigger remedial action by the Secretary of State where the overall improvement test is not met. Regulations will provide the operational detail on levy liability, collection, enforcement (including penalties capped in regulation at specified limits) and appeals.
On nationally significant infrastructure and major consents, the Act makes structural changes to the Planning Act 2008 and related regimes. Key reforms include removing several statutory pre‑application consultation duties (sections 42–49 of the Planning Act 2008), recasting what applicants must formally notify and publish, raising the weight of certain acceptance‑stage criteria and giving the Secretary of State a new, conditional power to direct that development consent is not required for specified development — effectively allowing alternative consenting routes where Ministerial conditions and request procedures are satisfied.
The Act also tightens the statutory review cycle for national policy statements, prescribing regular full reviews and parliamentary laying requirements.The Act also intervenes across energy and transport infrastructure. It gives the Secretary of State and the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority temporary powers (three‑year limit) to modify electricity licence conditions, connection agreements and qualifying distribution agreements to speed up or reprioritise connections; creates a statutory long‑duration electricity storage (LDES) scheme (installations ≥50MW capable of ≥8 hours at full output) with payment flows between LDES operators and the system operator; and provides for a consumer‑benefit scheme to channel benefits to homes near new or upgraded transmission infrastructure.
For transport and highways the Act adjusts consultation and decision timetables, enables fees for prescribed services, expands strategic highways company powers, and embeds street‑works permit routes for public EV charge‑points.Spatial planning is reshaped by a new Part 1A: strategic planning authorities (combined authorities, certain county and unitary councils and statutory strategic planning boards) must prepare spatial development strategies that set strategic policies for land use, infrastructure and housing distribution. The Secretary of State has detailed intervention powers — to direct preparation, take over strategy production, approve or modify strategies and recover costs.
The new Part includes prescribed procedures for drafting, public examination, adoption, review, and Secretary of State oversight.Compulsory purchase and acquisition mechanics are modernised: electronic service of notices is authorised, general vesting declaration timelines gain an ‘expedited’ procedure for unoccupied or unclaimed land, acquiring authorities may agree earlier vesting dates by agreement, vesting and compensation rules are adjusted for different classes of land and payments, and confirming authorities may appoint inspectors. Natural England also gains conditional powers to acquire land compulsorily (with Secretary of State authorisation) for conservation measures and may extinguish certain private rights on acquisition subject to compensation rules and exclusions for statutory undertakers.
The Five Things You Need to Know
An EDP can run for up to ten years and must set a maximum quantum of the development it covers; charging schedules in an EDP tie the nature restoration levy to specified environmental impacts.
If Natural England accepts a developer’s commitment to pay the levy, certain statutory environmental obligations are treated as discharged or the developer is treated as having been granted the licences listed in Schedule 3 (Habitats, Wildlife and Badgers statutes) on the EDP’s terms.
The Act removes the statutory duties in sections 42–49 of the Planning Act 2008 (the formal pre‑application consultation duties) and replaces them with a new notification/publicity framework and guidance obligations.
The Secretary of State may give a formal direction disapplying the requirement for development consent (DCO) for specified development, but only after a qualifying request process and subject to conditions including the alternative consenting authority and evidence of awareness.
Natural England may acquire land compulsorily for conservation measures with Secretary of State authorisation; compensatory rules, extinguishment of certain private rights on acquisition, and Upper Tribunal references for disputes are provided.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Environmental delivery plans (EDPs) and the nature restoration levy
This is the statutory framework for EDPs: Natural England drafts an EDP for a defined area, specifies environmental features and conservation measures, estimates costs, and publishes charging schedules. The levy is set by charging schedules that must be made in line with later regulations; regulations will define who is liable, how amounts are calculated, payment mechanics (on‑account, instalments, or non‑monetary forms), enforcement (interest, penalties, criminal offences in defined limits) and appeals on questions of fact. Critically, accepting a developer’s levy commitment produces legal effects: certain habitat/site and protected‑species obligations are to be disregarded for the listed statutory purposes, and the developer is treated as if granted specified licences on the EDP terms (Schedule 3). The EDP regime contains monitoring, midpoint and final reporting duties, an overall improvement test that the Secretary of State must apply before making or amending an EDP, and remedial powers if the EDP fails to deliver.
NSIP process: fewer statutory pre‑application duties, acceptance changes and power to disapply DCO requirement
The Act materially alters the Planning Act 2008: it omits the statutory pre‑application consultation sections (42–49) and reworks publicising, notification and applicant information obligations; tightens acceptance‑stage grounds and requires the Secretary of State to publish reasons if an application is not accepted. It also inserts section 35B, allowing the Secretary of State, after receiving a qualifying request and where conditions are met, to direct that some development need not follow the DCO route, subject to specified safeguards, publication and a timetable for decision‑making to be set by regulations. National policy statements must be subject to full review cycles (at least every five years after an initial period) with parliamentary laying requirements defined more tightly.
Connection management, LDES scheme and consumer benefits
The Act grants temporary three‑year powers to modify electricity licence conditions, standard conditions and connection agreements to improve connection management and potentially change queue ordering — the Secretary of State can direct GEMA to act. It creates a statutory LDES scheme for long‑duration storage installations (definitions: ≥50MW and ≥8 hours) with a payment mechanism between operators and the electricity system operator to stabilise revenue. The Act also enables regulations to set a consumer benefit scheme for premises near transmission works (funded via suppliers), including enforcement, pass‑through rules to end‑users and data‑sharing safeguards.
Spatial development strategies and strategic planning authorities
A new Part requires strategic planning authorities (combined authorities, certain county/unity councils and strategic planning boards) to prepare spatial development strategies that set strategic policy for land use, infrastructure and housing in a defined strategy area. The Part prescribes draft, consultation, public examination (by an examiner), adoption and review steps, allows Secretary of State intervention (including taking over or approving strategies and directing modifications), and sets timetables and publication rules. Regulations provide procedural detail; the Secretary of State can require training, monitoring data and even require reimbursement of intervention costs.
Electronic service, expedited vesting, advancement and inspector appointments
The Act modernises compulsory purchase and compensation mechanics: service by email/website is authorised where parties have agreed or used the address; an expedited vesting route is available for unoccupied or untraced land or where the authority cannot identify owners; acquiring authorities may agree earlier vesting dates with consenting owners; confirming authorities may appoint inspectors to act in their stead; and general vesting and compensation rules are adapted to cover acquisition of new rights (including modified CPA 1965, Land Compensation Act and CP(VD)A 1981 application). Home‑loss and occupier payments are adjusted with different floors/caps in England; procedural safeguards and transitional timings are set out.
Expanded development corporation powers and transfer schemes
The New Towns, urban development and Mayoral development corporation regimes are updated to allow overlap/dissolution of previously designated areas, permit single corporations covering multiple new towns, and to give corporations explicit powers to provide or facilitate infrastructure (water, energy including heat networks, transport, social and community facilities). The Secretary of State may make transfer schemes of property, rights and liabilities; transport functions can be exercised by corporations if local authorities fail to cooperate after direction; and the statutory duties include sustainable development and climate‑change objectives.
Street works for public charge‑points; planning fees and mandatory training
The Act brings public EV charge‑point works within street‑works and permit schemes, defines public charge‑points in statute and allows regulations imposing accessibility and design requirements. It permits local planning authorities and specified bodies to set fees under Secretary of State regulations (with income-use restrictions and Secretary of State directions to review fees), and introduces Secretary of State‑prescribed training with certification for members exercising certain planning functions.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Developers of major projects — can obtain a rapid regulatory pathway by committing to pay the nature restoration levy and (where applicable) receive the statutory effect of treated licences and the limited ‘disregard’ for certain environmental assessments under the EDP framework.
- Natural England — gains a statutory delivery role, a dedicated funding stream to finance conservation measures, expanded powers to enter, acquire land (with Secretary of State authorisation) and implement conservation measures, plus duties to publish, monitor and report.
- National infrastructure promoters and energy storage operators — benefit from connection‑management powers, a defined LDES scheme (payment stabilization mechanism) and a temporary regulatory lever to reprioritise connections.
- Strategic planning authorities and combined authorities — receive a statutory mechanism (spatial development strategies) to set cross‑boundary strategic policies and access to Secretary of State powers to resolve deadlocks.
- Homes near transmission projects — may receive regulated consumer benefits through a supplier‑funded scheme, with statutory pass‑through and enforcement mechanisms to protect end users.
Who Bears the Cost
- Developers — face a new levy that may be mandatory for specified developments in an EDP; levy calculations, compliance, appeals and enforcement add administrative and financial cost and change project viability calculus.
- Local planning authorities and consultees — lose certain statutory pre‑application roles; however, they gain new obligations (training, fee schemes and duties to cooperate with EDP implementation) while also absorbing process changes and potential case work from EDPs and modified consenting routes.
- Electricity network companies and counterparties — may be obliged to accept licence/contractual modifications or comply with directions to modify agreements (even where modifications would amount to repudiation), creating commercial and legal disruption over a three‑year window.
- Landowners and occupiers — face expanded compulsory acquisition powers (Natural England and Secretary of State can acquire land for conservation/remedial action), extinguishment of certain rights on acquisition and tightened timelines under expedited vesting procedures.
- Natural England (implementation body) and public budgets — while receiving levy funds, Natural England also assumes delivery, monitoring and reporting liabilities and may need upfront capacity; the Secretary of State retains intervention powers that can shift implementation responsibilities and costs.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between speeding and simplifying infrastructure delivery (and funding landscape‑scale conservation centrally) versus preserving environmental safeguards, local scrutiny and contractual certainty: the Act trades procedural friction for centralized mitigation and ministerial discretion — a trade‑off that depends entirely on the quality of charging schedules, EDP monitoring, delegated regulations and the checks placed on ministerial and Natural England powers.
The Act ties environmental mitigation funding to development through a new levy and centralises delivery with Natural England. That resolves the fragmentation of project‑by‑project mitigation but raises hard implementation questions: how will charging schedules translate complex ecological impacts into reliable unit prices?
Regulations must reconcile ecological equivalence with simple tariff mechanics, manage edge cases (mixed‑use, phased projects) and avoid under‑ or over‑collection that could distort development viability or underfund conservation. The statutory effect that certain obligations are to be ‘disregarded’ where a levy is paid reduces regulatory friction, but it depends on the quality of EDP design, monitoring and enforcement to ensure outcomes match commitments.
On consenting and governance, removing statutory pre‑application duties and introducing Secretary of State directions to disapply DCO requirements accelerates decision pathways but shifts risk onto affected consultees, local areas and judicial review timelines. The Act narrows certain consultation processes and shortens some statutory timeframes (including six‑week judicial review windows for EDP decisions), increasing pressure on local authorities and judicial resources.
Electricity powers to modify licences and agreements temporarily override commercial expectations and can be exercised even where contractual effects might amount to repudiation — a powerful, time‑limited tool that may trigger complex compensation claims or arbitration. Finally, compulsory acquisition and vesting reforms modernise process but heighten immediate legal and financial exposure for private owners; the Act provides compensation routes and tribunal access, but operationalising expedited vesting and new right‑acquisition valuation rules will require careful guidance and resourcing.
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